Every year, several young children are killed either because of the school bus they use to travel to and from school, or because of accidents related to the school bus.

Most accidents involving the school bus happen outside the bus, and most of these involve children under the age of nine.

As parents of young toddlers, we must teach our children certain safety tips on how to avoid getting into an accident involving the school bus.

When your toddler waits for the bus, teach him to avoid roughhousing behavior. Teach him to be wary of the traffic on the busy roads, and on how to stay away from the traffic and how to stand quietly and safely while waiting.

Teach him to wait in a line when the bus is arriving, and not to run directly into the path of the bus in his hurry to catch it. At times the drivers too are helpless and there is only so much they can do to prevent an accident.

Teach him to wait until the bus has stopped and the doors have opened before trying to get on, and to stay away from the road when he is getting on.

Teach him to find a seat and sit down when he has climbed onto the bus. Tell him that he must never disturb the driver and destroy his concentration by talking loudly or playing and running inside the bus.

Teach him that he must never put his arms out of the window because the passing traffic may hit him inadvertently.

Teach your toddler the correct way to cross the roads.

Make sure that one adult waits at the bus stop where young children are waiting for the bus to arrive. You could coordinate this with other parents in your block, as this is a method that will go a long way towards assuring safety for your school going child. [Child Safety]

This may sound funny, but you as an aware parent must make sure that your child’s clothes do not have any loose drawstrings or other fasteners hanging out. Drawstrings have been found to get caught in school bus doors and this can be a very great safety hazard for your toddler. Make sure that all loose dangling things are removed from your toddler’s clothing and his school bag and so on before he steps out of the house.

With a little thinking and awareness, there is no reason why your toddler should not be safe when he travels to and from his school on the school bus.